Brigantines

Cómo los de Iztapalapa habian hecho ahumadas desde unas torres de ídolos que estaban en un cerro muy alto junto á su ciudad, los de Tenuxtitan y de las otras ciudades que están en el agua conocieron que yo entraba ya por la laguna con los bergantines, y de improviso juntóse tan grande flota de canoas para nos venir á acometer y á tentar qué cosa eran los bergantines; y á lo que podimos juzgar, pasaban de quinientas canoas. E cómo yo vi que traian su derrota derecha á nosotros, yo y la gente que habiamos saltado en aquel cerro grande, nos embarcamos á mucha priesa, y mandé á los capitanes de los bergantines que en ninguna manera se moviesen, porque los de las canoas se determinasen á nos acometer, y creyesen que nosotros de temor no osábamos salir á ellos; y así, comenzaron con mucho ímpetu de encaminar su flota hácia nosotros. Pero á obra de dos tiros de ballesta reparáronse y estuvieron quedos; y cómo yo deseaba mucho que el primer reencuentro que con ellos hobiésemos fuese de mucha victoria, y se hiciese de manera que ellos cobrasen mucho temor de los bergantines, porque la llave de toda la guerra estaba en ellos, y donde ellos podian recibir mas daño, y aun nosotros tambien, era por el agua, plugo á nuestro Señor que, estándonos mirando los unos á los otros, vino un viento de la tierra muy favorable para embestir con ellos; y luego mandé á los capitanes que rompiesen por la flota de las canoas, y siguiesen tras ellos fasta los encerrar en la ciudad de Tenuxtitan; y cómo el viento era muy bueno, aunque ellos huian cuanto podian, embestimos por medio dellos, y quebramos infinitas canoas, y matamos y ahogamos muchos de los enemigos, que era la cosa del mundo mas para ver. Y en este alcance los seguimos bien tres leguas grandes, fasta los encerrar en las casas de la ciudad; é así, plugo á nuestro Señor de nos dar mayor y mejor victoria que nosotros habiamos pedido y deseado.

The people of Iztapalapa had sent up smoke signals from some idol towers on a very high hill beside their city. So the people of Tenuxtitan and of the other cities that stand in the water knew that I was now coming onto the lake with the brigantines. At once a huge fleet of canoes gathered to come and attack us and find out what sort of things the brigantines were. As far as we could judge, there were more than five hundred canoes. When I saw them heading straight for us, the men who had landed with me on that great hill and I got back on board in great haste. I ordered the captains of the brigantines not to move at all, so that the people in the canoes would make up their minds to attack, thinking we were too afraid to come out against them. And so they began to bring their fleet toward us with great force. But about two crossbow shots away they stopped and held still. I wanted very much for our first encounter with them to be a great victory, and to make them deeply afraid of the brigantines. The key to the whole war lay in the brigantines, for it was on the water that the enemy could suffer the most harm, and so could we. And it pleased our Lord that, while we were watching each other, a wind sprang up from the land, just right for charging them. At once I ordered the captains to break through the fleet of canoes and chase them until they were shut up in the city of Tenuxtitan. The wind was very good, and though they fled as fast as they could, we drove right through the middle of them. We broke countless canoes and killed and drowned many of the enemy. It was the greatest sight in the world. We chased them a good three long leagues, until we had shut them up among the houses of the city. So it pleased our Lord to give us a greater and better victory than we had asked or hoped for.

Y cómo en estos conciertos se pasaron mas de cinco horas, y los de la ciudad estaban todos encima de los muertos, y otros en el agua, y otros andaban nadando, y otros ahogándose en aquel lago donde estaban las canoas, que era grande, era tanta la pena que tenian, que no bastaba juicio á pensar cómo lo podian sufrir; y no hacian sino salirse infinito número de hombres y mujeres y niños hácia nosotros. Y por darse priesa al salir, unos á otros se echaban al agua, y se ahogaban entre aquella multitud de muertos; que, segun pareció, del agua salada que bebian, y de la hambre y mal olor, habia dado tanta mortandad en ellos, que murieron mas de cincuenta mil ánimas. Los cuerpos de las cuales, porque nosotros no alcanzásemos su necesidad, ni los echaban al agua, porque los bergantines no topasen con ellos, ni los echaban fuera de su conversacion, porque nosotros por la ciudad no los viésemos; y así por aquellas calles en que estaban, hallábamos los montones de los muertos, que no habia persona que en otra cosa pudiese poner los piés; y como la gente de la ciudad se salia á nosotros, yo habia proveido que por todas las calles estuviesen españoles para estorbar que nuestros amigos no matasen á aquellos tristes que salian, que era sin cuento.

These talks went on for more than five hours. Meanwhile the people of the city were all standing on top of their dead. Others were in the water, some swimming and some drowning in that lake where the canoes were, which was large. Their suffering was so great that the mind could not grasp how they could bear it. Men, women, and children kept pouring out toward us in countless numbers. In their hurry to get out, they pushed one another into the water and drowned among that great mass of dead. It seemed that from the salt water they drank, and from hunger and the stench, so many had died among them that more than fifty thousand people perished. They did not throw the bodies into the water, where the brigantines might come upon them, nor carry them out of the places where they lived, where we would see them in the city. They did this so that we would not find out how desperate they were. So in the streets where they were, we found heaps of dead, so many that there was nowhere to put one's feet. As the people of the city came out toward us, I had placed Spaniards in all the streets to stop our friends from killing those wretched people coming out, who were beyond counting.